Bears Soccer Drops 3-1 Decision to HVMAC Foe Culinary

HYDE PARK, N.Y. - The Culinary Institute of America scored two early goals and never trailed, handing the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's soccer team a 3-1 conference loss on Sunday afternoon in Hyde Park, NY.

The Steels, currently third in the league standings, improve to 6-3-1 overall and 4-2 in Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference play. St. Joseph's falls to 1-6 overall and 1-3 in league play.

Culinary drew first blood in the fifth minute of action when Zach Stoller took a feed from Ernio Vasquez and scored from inside the box.  Just over seven minutes later, Vasquez played a role again, putting the Steels up 2-0, scoring the eventual game-winner, receiving a ball from Rob Chambers on a free kick and putting it into the back of the net.

After the two early tallies, the game remained scoreless until the 81st minute on a goal scored by Jeremy Segarra on a shot taken just inside the box, giving the Steels a 3-0 advantage.

The Bears would fight until the final whistle and were able to get on the board in the 87th minute after senior Derrick Akwei (Bronx, NY/Port Angeles HS) scored his first goal of the season finishing a through ball by freshman Kyle Johnson (Red Hook, NY/Red Hook Central) from the midfield.  Johnson would finish with three shots on goal to lead the Bears.

Sophomore goalkeeper Michael Miner (Schenevus, NY/Schenevus) made eight saves in the loss with five of them coming in the first half as Culinary maintained a 23-11 shot advantage for the game.

St. Joseph's looks to rebound when they return to action this Wednesday, October 17 hosting HVMAC foe Berkeley College in the nightcap of a doubleheader with the women. Kickoff is set for 8:00 pm at Aviator Sports Complex.